Global body to lobby sports coverage freedom

The White Paper is the first comprehensive initiative on sport by the commission and has already attracted much attention from sports governing bodies. In an unprecedented initiative, the media's representatives from around the world supported action to oppose moves by event organisations to determine how and when news from the events could be produced and distributed.

News media groups with a cross-section of interests gathered in London for an international forum on the issue on 25 June hosted by the Newspaper Publishers Association, which represents the British ‘National Press'. More than 30 organisations contributed and these included the European Publishers Council (EPC), the European Newspapers Publishers Association (ENPA), World Association of Newspapers (WAN), members of the Association of International News Agencies (AINA) and the Society of Editors (SoE). Support came from groups in Australia, France, Gemany, Portugal, Ireland, America and elsewhere.

They agreed that as the threat to press freedom was so serious the news media industry needs to ramp up an organised international campaign to bring about improved arrangements and defend the freedom of the press to report events without hindrance.

Urgency

The urgency of the meeting comes from the progressively tightening of controls on journalistic access and coverage at events and newsroom operations by events organisers including the International Rugby Board's (IRB) World Cup in France in September.

In exchange for permission to attend a major sports event, journalists are often contractually, through accreditation terms and conditions, obliged to limit the timing and volume of reports, images and scores, especially during an event when the public appetite for news is greatest.

A statement issued on behalf of the meeting condemned the IRB and others for failing to ‘recognise fully the direct contribution a free press makes to the public interest in their events and as well as the indirect value given to event partners such as sponsors'

This move follows the success of a campaign by WAN in cooperation with other major media groups last year which forced FIFA to remove restrictions on coverage of the world cup in Germany including intended delays and volume controls on publishing content on newspaper websites.